Emergency Services Response

Aug 6, 2012 GeneralTillamook County General Hospital (TCGH) is thankful for citizens who help save lives, as in the recent case of the young lifeguard and the child that he voluntarily helped.

There are a number of misunderstandings in the reports that have circulated through various news and online communications channels. In keeping with federal and state confidentiality rules, however, we are duty-bound to honor the privacy of specific details for all medical cases and cannot reply to the specifics of this case.

Our Critical Access Hospital assesses and treats more than 10,000 emergency medical cases each year. Each patient is carefully evaluated and treated to ensure they receive the best care possible. TCGH’s continuous quality improvement program actively seeks to learn from each experience and make further improvements. Our professional staff goes above and beyond to provide top quality care, as evidenced by our quality of care statistics and our hospital being named a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital in 2011.

Ambulance services are dispatched through 9-1-1. Individuals transported to the Emergency Department via ambulance have provided appropriate consent. Protocols followed for water rescue patients who may have hypothermia include collection of multiple vital sign measurements, use of warming measures such as blankets and hot packs to help restore body heat, cardiac monitoring for dysrhythmia and visual assessment for other possible health concerns that may arise as time progresses. When both paramedics/EMTs need to be in the back of the ambulance, each caring for a patient, a fire fighter is asked to drive the ambulance to the hospital from the scene. It is our policy to only bill for services rendered. To do otherwise is a violation of federal and state laws.

Hospitals in Oregon are committed to providing financial assistance to patients in need. For any patient with financial need, we actively offer financial assistance. More than $7 million in financial assistance is provided by TCGH annually.

To be equitable to all in need of financial assistance, some written information is requested from patients/families for review.

It has been our hospital’s privilege to serve residents and visitors in Tillamook County for more than 60 years. Our team of local professionals is committed to providing excellence in community health care well into the future.

We salute this young lifeguard and the selfless heroism he showed that day!